


Pools of Sorrow, Waves of Joy

by wanderlustlights



Category: Glee
Genre: Dalton Academy, M/M, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-01-14
Updated: 2012-12-08
Packaged: 2017-11-09 11:49:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/455099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wanderlustlights/pseuds/wanderlustlights
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt has been bullied for as long as he could remember. Finding solace in a place like Dalton Academy and with a roommate like David Karofsky is not exactly how he expected his life to go.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Scott Cooper had been bullying Kurt for as long as he could remember. It started out small – things in elementary school that were just that, elementary, where Cooper would throw rocks or dirt at him and Kurt would come home crying. By the time middle school came around, they ended up in different schools in the district due to city lines; it seemed only a temporary solution, however.

When high school started, it was a whole new environment to get used to and Kurt was a little shrimp of kid with only a fantastic fashion sense to back him up when Cooper and his new JV hockey jocks set on terrorizing him from the get-go. The slushies, the shoves into lockers, the homophobic slurs after he came out sophomore year – they were _nothing_ compared to the "incident" from the week before. Cooper had been giving Kurt one of his daily locker checks and Kurt had finally gotten so fed up and infuriated with the abuse that he'd actually down the hallway after the taller boy to confront him head on. When he'd followed him into an empty science classroom, they'd gotten into a fight – a real, true blue, good ol' fashioned fight. One-sided, though, of course. Kurt may have grown a little over the summer between sophomore and junior year but that still didn't mean he had buffed up enough to actually fight back. Kurt had provoked him so much that Cooper had decided it was better to just take out his fists and punch the lights out of him to shut him up instead.

When Kurt returned home that day after school, sporting a black eye, Burt and Carole had demanded to hear the whole entire story and when they couldn't get the kid expelled, only suspended, they decided enough was enough and Kurt was going for an immediate transfer.

Dalton Academy was nearly two hours away from Lima, all the way over in Westerville, but not only did they have an outrageously high percentage of students who went on to ivy league or Big 10 schools but their no tolerance for bullying policy didn't really hurt either. In fact, it made up most of the reason Burt and Carole were sending him there, even with the high price of tuition and the long distance away from home. But

But they could deal with that, so long as Kurt would be safe there.

_tbc._


	2. Chapter 2

Kurt looked around the room, dropping the last of his bags on the floor. Walking over to the empty bed, he sat on it, gently at first and then smiling as he bounced on the springy mattress. He'd never had such an uncomfortable bed in all his life but even still there was something a bit comforting about it, somehow. He was away from home now, yes, but just knowing that he wasn't at the same school as all the ignorant, homophobic assholes was enough to sufficiently placate him, if only for the time being.

A squeak resounded from the door to his room and Kurt turned his head at the sound. A tall, burly boy in the Dalton uniform - dress slacks, blazer, and all - walked into the room, bag slung over his shoulder. "Uh... hey. You my new roommate?"

Kurt bounded to his feet quickly, pulling the sheet out of his pocket with his room assignment on it. "Yeah, you're..." he scanned the sheet, searching for his roommate's name, "David?"

The other boy nodded sharply, mouth set in a thin line. "Yeah. Dave's fine."

"Dave. Right. I'm Kurt," he replied, sticking out his hand to Dave.

Dave smiled a tiny bit, shaking the smaller boy's hand in return. "I know. You're the public school kid."

Kurt, taken aback, only blinked. "Uhm... yes. I am." People knew about him? How he was run out of his school, away from his friends and family, all because of a stupid bully? Goddamn. Well _that_ was a good way to start out at a new school, wasn't it.

"Don't worry," said Dave, walking to the opposite side of the room to drop his bag on the floor by his bed and not even bothering to retrieve the things that fell out of it, "you'll fit in here just fine. I can tell."

"And just what, exactly, is that supposed to mean?" Kurt shot back, defenses up now and fully on high alert.

"Nothing," replied Dave, shaking his head and shrugging out of his navy and red blazer. "Doesn't mean anything."

"Well don't be shy, tell me. Tell me exactly what you've already gathered from me in the two minutes since you met me. Because you already have some strong opinions of me, that much is obvious."

"Dude, it doesn't mean anything, just..."

"What? What does it mean?"

"You're pretty damn preppy, okay? It's nothing to get so upset about, it just means you'll probably fit in here in no time."

Kurt narrowed his eyes dangerously, clenching his jaw. "I don't like you, David. In the two minutes since we've met, that's what _I_ have gathered about you."

Dave only laughed shortly, making Kurt glare even more. "Okay then. You keep feeling that way, Dude," he told him as he pat Kurt's shoulder and walked out the door to walk to the bathroom.

"And stop calling me dude!"

_tbc._


	3. Chapter 3

It was definitely nice to have a private bathroom for just your roommate and yourself but that certainly didn't help the fact that even a week later, Kurt and Dave still weren't on the greatest of terms.

Kurt woke up earlier to make sure he could get all of his routine done before breakfast, which was good enough, but then Dave was banging on the door halfway through and it was all Kurt could do not to open the door and smack the hell out of him for interrupting him.

It didn't help that Kurt hadn't ever had to share his bathroom before so he was stuck getting used to new routines which made everything – leaving his school, friends, and family behind and starting anew – just that much worse.

Dave, on the other hand, was mad for a completely different reason. For as laid-back as he was, it didn't change the fact that he'd gotten used to not having a roommate and having the place all to himself anymore. It was weird living with another dude – a dude who sang all the time, was completely into fashion, complained about not being allowed to wear his regular clothes anymore except for the weekend because of the uniforms, and did yoga in the afternoons and showed off his ass in those ridiculously tight stretch pants. All of the deep breathing was completely distracting with the way Kurt's chest would rise and fall rhythmically and how his back would bend as he did the Downward Facing Dog and transition into the next pose. Dave was losing concentration on his homework and for a school like Dalton, where they prided themselves on high GPAs and good academics all around, he was going to be kicked out by the end of the month if this kept up.

It wasn't just the yoga, though. That, combined with Kurt singing in such a high voice and the fashion choices, was all confusing Dave like none other.

He'd always sort of just assumed he was straight.

But with Kurt there, he wasn't so sure anymore.

_tbc._


	4. Chapter 4

Kurt listened as the phone dialed, seeming like forever before the other end finally picked up.

"Hey, buddy."

Kurt breathed a sigh of relief. "Hey, Dad."

"Everything okay there?" asked Burt when it was silent on the other end for a moment.

"Yeah, everything's f-fine."

"Kurt. What's wrong?"

Kurt let out a shaky breath. "I miss you." He heard the door open and turned his back as Dave entered the room, walking over to drop his things on his side of the room.

"I miss you, too. It's not the same here without you." Burt sighed. "You're still planning on coming home this weekend, right?"

"Yeah, of course. Wouldn't miss it. So, uhm... how are Finn and Carole?"

Burt filled him in on everything he'd been missing in just the past month already - getting reacquainted with married life, how things were going at the tire shop...

"So how's school, then?"

Kurt resisted the urge to groan. "School's fine, Dad. Harder than I thought it would be, maybe, but it's fine. Look, I... I should really go. I have a test tomorrow that I should be studying for." Lies.

"Oh." Kurt didn't miss the sense of disappointment in the older man's voice. "Alright kiddo, well I.. I love you."

Kurt clenched his eyes shut to stop the tears burning his eyes from falling. "I love you, too, Dad. I-I'll talk to you soon."

After they'd said their goodbyes, Kurt stayed seated at the edge of his bed, breathing shakily and willing himself not to have a breakdown.

"You, uh... you okay?"

Kurt jumped slightly, Dave's voice startling him out of his thoughts. He sighed. "I'm fine, thank you."

Dave raised an eyebrow. "Really? 'Cause you don't seem like it."

Kurt was silent.

"Do you... wanna talk about it?" asked Dave after a moment when Kurt refused to say anything further.

"Not really, no," Kurt replied quietly.

"I know what it's like to be homesick, you know."

"Look, I don't need your sympathy, okay?" snapped Kurt, whipping around to face Dave finally.

Dave didn't even bother responding to that. If Kurt was that close to full-on yelling at him, Dave figured it was probably better to just leave him alone.

They didn't talk much to each other in the first place since they'd been living together, and this definitely wasn't the best conversation, but Dave figured it was better than not talking at all.

_tbc._


	5. Chapter 5

"I'm sorry about the other day."

Dave startled, watching as Kurt strode into the room and threw his bag on the bed. "I was upset and stressed but even still, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

"It's fine, man," replied Dave with a laugh. "So how was your weekend, then?"

Kurt sighed, sitting on the edge of his bed. "Great, actually. It was nice being able to see my dad again finally, and Finn and Carole."

"Brother and sister?"

"Brother and stepmom, actually," said Kurt. "My dad married Carole pretty much right before I came here."

"Oh."

"She's great, I actually set them up last year and they just sort of… clicked," Kurt said as he got up and fiddled with his bag. "Figured my dad needed to get back out there and then I found her and it all just sort of came together from there."

"'Get back out there'? Your parents divorced or something?"

Kurt stopped, halting in the middle of putting his clothes in the laundry basket, and glanced once over his shoulder at the other boy. "No, uhm… my mom died when I was eight. It… breast cancer."

"Oh, shit I… sorry, man, I mean…"

Sighing, Kurt forced a smile. "Sorry, I just, I don't really talk about it a lot."

Dave nodded once in understanding. "Yeah, I… still, I'm sorry."

Kurt waved him off. "Anyway, I think I'm going to go say hi to Blaine. I might be back late so if you're going to bed before I get back, don't bother keeping the light on or anything," he said, giving Dave a smile. Over the past month or so he'd struck up a great friendship with Blaine and, truth be told, had also developed a sort of crush on him as well. It was probably a lost cause, seeing as he was pretty much hopeless anyway, but it had to be better than not trying at all.

"I'll be back later, then." Kurt grabbed his keys from his weekend bag and pocketed them, already moving throughout the room.

"Kay. See ya," Dave replied and watched as Kurt smiled in response, closing the door behind him.

Dave sighed. As much as he hated to admit it, seeing Kurt spending so much time with that stupid hobbit boy was really starting to grate on his nerves. The jealousy was much more than any straight guy should be feeling, especially where his guy roommate was concerned.

Dave hated himself more for it every time Kurt came back from a meeting with Blaine, great smile gracing his face.

_tbc._


	6. Chapter 6

Dave watched in concern as Kurt stormed about the room in a rage, throwing things around and muttering to himself lowly.

“Are you…” he started and Kurt turned to him on a pivot, mouth set in a frown.  Dave gulped.  “Are you okay?”

“No, I am not _okay_ ,” Kurt replied with a huff and Dave nearly winced at the tone of voice. 

“What, uh, what’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?  You want to know what’s wrong?  Blaine likes someone else.  That’s what’s wrong.”

Dave resisted rolling his eyes.  He’d heard Kurt talk about Blaine nonstop for the past two months and to be honest, it was getting old.  Dave had only just come to terms with just what, exactly, his sexuality was.  That alone was hard enough by itself.  Realizing he liked his own roommate and hearing said roommate talk about someone else constantly was a whole other story.  Just hearing Blaine’s name grated on Dave’s nerves now like none other.  “Right,” he finally said and turned back to his science homework.

“ _This is serious_ , Dave,” Kurt responded, stressing the words so much that it sounded like he was speaking to a child.  Dave looked up in annoyance and fixed the other boy with a steely glare.

“It’s not fucking _serious_ , dude,” replied Dave, slamming the chemistry book shut, causing the sound to echo throughout the room, and stood from the bed.  “And you know what?  Maybe if you’d pull your head out of your ass for one fucking second then you’d see that Blaine isn’t the only available guy out there.  There’s about a million others and not all of them are as goddamn stupid as Blaine fucking Anderson.”  That said, Dave bolted from Kurt’s sight to shut the bathroom door behind him.

Dave looked at himself in the mirror for a long moment before shaking his head and turning on the warm water and splashing his face with it in frustration.

When he came out of the bathroom, Kurt was gone, as were his book bag and keys.  Dave sighed.  He could only guess where he’d disappeared to.

_tbc._


	7. Chapter 7

“Sorry about yesterday,” said Dave the next day after almost a whole hour of complete silence after classes.  “I didn’t mean for it to sound so… harsh or whatever.”

“It’s fine,” Kurt replied, voice high and tight, icy.  “You were just speaking your mind, is all.”

He didn’t mean it, of course he didn’t mean it, Dave could tell.  “Dude, just – would you listen to me for a second here?”

Kurt put down his textbook, looking over at Dave expectantly.  “Fine.  What _exactly_ would you like to say?  That I was being an idiot and should just let it go?  That I should move on from Blaine because clearly he doesn’t want me?  Did you want to say that I’ll meet someone else?  Because believe me, David, that’s probably the last thing I need to hear right now, especially coming from you.”  That said, Kurt picked up his book again, searching for a highlighter on his desk, when Dave finally spoke again.

“Well if Blaine doesn’t want you?  Then fuck him, he’s obviously a moron.  You’re like the awesomeest guy out there and anyone would be a lucky fucking bastard to say they’d had you.”

Kurt stopped in mid-reach for the highlighter he’d finally found, and turned back around to stare at the other boy.  Dave was busying himself highlighting his book and making the occasional notes in the margin, mouth set in a frown and a crease between his eyebrows.  Kurt felt his gaze soften at the sight as he continued watching him.  Dave was smart; probably smarter than Kurt even realized.  But Kurt wondered what, exactly, he was struggling with.  By the look on his face it couldn’t be just their talk that was frustrating him.

“Do you need some help?” he asked softly.

Dave glanced over at him, grunted, and gave Kurt a small nod.

“What are you having trouble with?” asked Kurt, dragging his chair over to Dave’s side of the room to sit beside him.

“English.  I’ve never really been that great at it, I’m more of a math and science kind of guy.”

“Oh.  Well what are you working on right now?”

Dave sighed, resisting the urge to groan.  “Poe.”

“Ah, Poe.  A personal favorite.  And you’re reading…” Kurt glanced down at the open book, giving a hum of approval, “‘The Cask of Amontillado.’  Great story.”

Dave let out a quiet laugh.  “Yeah, maybe to some people, to me it just makes me wanna throw the book across the room.”

Kurt frowned.  “Poe’s classic.  The language, the metaphors, the images… he’s amazing, really.”

Dave looked at him, giving him a pointed look.  “Like I said: maybe to some people,” he said, and Kurt rolled his eyes with a sigh.

“Fine, okay, just… what do you think he’s saying here?”

They spent the next almost forty five minutes talking about the story, and by the end of it, Dave actually understood it, for the most part.

“Hey, do you-” Kurt started, and shook his head.  “Nevermind.”

“No, wait, what were you gonna say?”

“Nothing, nothing, it’s just… do you really think that?  What you said before, I mean?  That…”

“What?” Dave asked and Kurt sighed.

“That anyone would be lucky to have me,” Kurt finished quietly.  “Or were you just saying that to shut me up.”

Dave swallowed.  “No, I – I really mean it.”

Kurt stared at him for a second before giving him a timid smile, watching as Dave nodded.  Kurt went back to his side of the room, muttering a quiet “thanks” after a long moment of silence.

Dave smiled at him, feeling his heart tighten in his chest at the mere thought of it being _him_ who was the lucky fucking bastard. 

Later, as he lay in bed listening to Kurt’s steady breathing and trying to fall asleep himself, that’s when he realized something.  This was the first time they’d really talked without shouting or ending in one of them storming out.

_tbc._


End file.
